In this unprecedented moment of isolation, proper social distancing, vigilant care & caution, and Mass cancellations, please know that you are both loved and missed by your pastor!
For the time being, I am responding to the Archbishop’s encouragement to offer a daily Mass for the intentions of the day and for the good of the people of the parish. Please stay in touch with each other and continue to pray for each other, especially those most alone, vulnerable, and afraid. Your every prayerful intention is included in the daily Mass I am offering. Also, please take a look at the newly posted parish bulletin for some encouragement and news. The latest edition of the bulletin includes a message from me (which was inspired by a Jesuit priest in New York):
“Every Mass is a Mass for the salvation of the world, because every Mass is Christ’s sacrifice for all of us, no less with 1 priest in an otherwise empty church than with the Pope and tens of thousands of the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, or with hundreds of parishioners at Holy Cross.
Some people may suggest that recognizing the power of the Mass should make us so courageous that we throw caution to the wind and trust in God to protect us: ‘Don’t you trust God more than you fear the coronavirus?’ they ask. But that gets the question of trust exactly backward.
We are asked right now to trust God enough to know that the Mass is being offered for us, all over the world and even in our local parish church. We are asked to trust that the scientific knowledge that tells us how necessary it is to limit large public gatherings is itself a gift of God. And that gift calls us to exercise our charity by recognizing that every time we can avoid the risk of catching or passing on this epidemic, we are acting in solidarity with those who are most vulnerable to this disease, with the public health workers who are heroically on the front lines of this crisis, and indeed with the whole world. We are asked to trust that God gives us courage in order to act wisely and not just boldly. And above all, we are asked to trust that it is God who makes the Mass and the Eucharist both possible and powerful. And that power is sufficient even if we are limited to participating through a livestream or through the knowledge that our pastor is praying for us each day at the altar.”
The new Holy Cross pictorial directory has been placed on the altar of our church, alongside the Roman Missal and the bread & wine. Each day, I will turn to the next page of the directory and include those individuals and families in “our” prayer. All of the members of the parish will be remembered each day, but it will be a special joy to pray for those whom I can see!
“Mary, Queen of Peace, help us place our trust in the redemptive love of your Son and in your generous protection and powerful intercession.” Amen.
